Integration of Systemic Quality and the Balanced Scorecard

This article presents the integration of systemic quality (balance between product and process effectiveness and efficiency) as a strategy of systems development organizations, through the balanced scorecard (BSC) method, to balance the different forces that drive the organization. the proposal contemplates a series of tasks that would be undertaken through the strategic plan. Each task assures one aspect of the organization, in addition to creating a strategic map and a series of indicators that demonstrate the cause and effect relationship between systemic quality and the organization. This article also illustrates a case study in which a dynamic simulation technique was used, recreating the present situation of a Venezuelan organization over a five-year period. This strategy was used to try to determine the impact of systemic quality on financial prospects, especially in increasing shareholder value, starting with the simulation of the present state of the company and then introducing systemic quality.     

What do physicians know and say about fetal alcohol syndrome: a survey of obstetricians, pediatricians, and family medicine physicians

Pediatricians, obstetricians, and family practice physicians in Michigan were surveyed by mail for their knowledge and opinions about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE). Physicians said that about 67% of their patients raised questions about drinking during pregnancy but only 2% specifically referred to FAS or FAE. Most physicians were uncertain about whether their colleagues were sufficiently aware of FAS, whether FAS could be diagnosed at birth, or if physicians were acquainted with the syndrome's major criteria. However, most believed FAS was not being overdiagnosed and believed that making a diagnosis of FAS at birth could lead to improved treatment of an affected child. Physicians also believed that physician counseling was a more effective way of reducing the incidence of FAS/FAE than warning labels. Forty-one percent of the physicians placed the threshold for FAS at one to three drinks per day and 38% placed the threshold at one or fewer drinks a day. Thirty-five percent placed the estimated incidence of FAS at 1 to 2 per 1000 in the United States. We conclude that physicians are in relative agreement about the effects of drinking during pregnancy and the value of physician counseling but are misguided as to what constitutes a true risk level of drinking as far as the etiology of FAS is concerned.     

Corrosion inhibitors performance for mild steel in CO2 containing solutions

The Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), was used to evaluate and compare the behavior of three different corrosion inhibitors: quaternary amine (QA), oleic imidazoline (OI) and amino coco propionic acid (ACP), on the corrosion of mild steel in 3% NaCl solutions, saturated with CO₂ gas, under static conditions. Two pH values: 3.8 and 5.5 were considered. Under the conditions considered in this work, the results indicated film formation at the metal surface, probable due to the formation of iron carbonate. This condition modified the values of the resistance and double layer capacitance of the system. In general terms, the ACP inhibitor exhibited better performance, compared to the QA and OI. During the impedance measurements with OI and ACP, some deviations were observed at high frequencies, indicating probably that the inhibitors adsorption occurs in different way to the QA inhibitor and the amine adsorption is weaker than the other two inhibitors adsorption.     

The effects of carbon on the solidification of nodular cast iron– its study with the help of linear variable differential transformer and microstructural analysis

The effect of carbon on the solidification of ductile cast iron (DCI) was studied using linear variable differential transducers (LVDT) and microstructural analysis. Thermal expansion during the eutectic solidification was investigated by using LVDT and temperature measurements. The eutectic volume change was compared with the theoretical calculation. Furthermore, the primary austenite during solidification was evaluated by using differential thermal analysis and the samples undergo a dilatometer experimentation to assess the effect of cooling rates. It was found that the samples show no expansion in the transversal direction due to higher micro-shrinkages in the centre whereas in the longitudinal direction the samples shows expansion until solidification completed. The theoretical and measured volume changes agree with each other. The austenite fraction and micro-shrinkage pores decrease with increase in carbon content. The nodule count and distribution changes with carbon content. The thermal contraction of DCI is not influenced by carbon content variation at lower cooling rate.     

Digital compensation of second‐ and third‐order nonlinear distortions generated by blocker signals

Deeply integrated systems in chips commonly include a digital and an analog front end on the same die. These analog front‐end schemes for wireless communications could be implemented under the concept called software‐defined radio (SDR). Digital signal processing is commonly used to perform signal filtering and channel equalization, and, recently, to improve front‐end radio performance by removing the undesirable effects of the analog front‐end imperfections. These wide‐band SDR are currently implemented without the surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter, because it is difficult to integrate a highly configurable one, as is required in wide‐band systems. An analog front end without this filter has no efficient protection against blocker signal effects, specifically against nonlinear distortions due to the analog front‐end imperfections. This paper proposes an algorithm to simultaneously remove second‐ and third‐order nonlinear distortions caused by a blocker signal, departing from a behavioral model and a band‐pass sampling pure digital algorithm to recover the blocker signal information. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Associations between jet lag and cortisol diurnal rhythms after domestic travel.

Objective: Millions of adults in the United States travel abruptly across time zones each year. Nevertheless, the impact of traveling over relatively short distances (across 3 or fewer time zones) on diurnal patterning of typical physiological response patterns has yet to be studied in a large, epidemiological sample. Design: The current research focuses on 764 middle-aged men comparing variations in diurnal cortisol regulation based on number of time zones traveled eastward or westward the day before. Main Outcome Measure: Participants provided samples of salivary cortisol at waking, 30-min postwaking, 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and bedtime. Results: Eastward travel was associated with a steeper salivary cortisol awakening response (p     

Poly‐3‐hexylthiophene doped with iron disulfide nanoparticles for hybrid solar cells

In this work, the pyrite crystalline phase of iron disulfide nanoparticles (FeS₂) about 20 to 30 nm was obtained by a two‐pot thermal method at 220°C. Subsequently, different concentrations of these nanoparticles were used as a doping agent for the conjugated poly‐3‐hexylthiophene (P3HT). The electrical resistivity of P3HT was decreased almost three orders of magnitude while adding FeS₂ nanoparticles as doping, and dichlorobenzene solvent was a determinant factor for the dispersion of polymer with nanoparticles. Doped‐P3HT dichlorobenzene solution was spin coated onto the FTO/TiO₂ substrate to fabricate the FTO/TiO₂/P3HT:FeS₂/C‐Au hybrid solar cells. Moreover, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of hybrid devices was studied as a function of pyrite FeS₂ nanoparticle concentration. The highest efficiency of 0.83% was obtained at 1% concentration of FeS₂ nanoparticles. Hence, the results revealed that the FeS₂ nanoparticles could be considered as an alternative charge carrier to develop the bulk hybrid solar cells.     

Performance Assessment Comparison of Variable Fin Density Microchannels With Offset Configurations

Current technologies for the cooling of integrated circuits (IC) chips employ single-phase liquid flow through microchannel heat sinks. The surface temperature in these devices increases along the flow direction, leading to low heat transfer coefficients toward the channel exit. Enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient while mitigating the temperature nonuniformity has been possible with the utilization of variable fin density microchannels. A microchannel cooling layer suitable for three-dimensional (3D) stacking of IC chips is studied in this paper. The effect of the variation of geometrical parameters and operating conditions on the overall performance of the cooling layer is reported. The overall performance of eight different configurations presenting offset strip fins with variable fin density has been evaluated and compared to two cases with smooth rectangular microchannels, one case for each channel height. The cooling layer, with a length of 8 mm and a width of 7.92 mm, dissipates a total thermal power of 200 W by means of pumping coolant through 12 flow channels. Results from this investigation demonstrate the capability of the proposed configurations to decrease the surface temperature nonuniformities and to maintain the surface temperature below the allowable limits for IC chips while achieving low pressure drops. A parameter for the overall performance assessment, named the overall performance index, has been proposed; by computing and properly comparing the values for this parameter, the best performing configuration is identified.     

Volatile ester-synthesising capacity in ‘Tardibelle’ peach fruit in response to controlled atmosphere and 1-MCP treatment

Peach fruit is highly perishable, which drastically restricts storage potential and marketing possibilities. Although aroma is a very important attribute for sensory quality of peach, post-harvest procedures, aimed at extending commercial availability of fruit, have focused preferentially on other quality aspects. In this work, we were interested in assessing the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment and controlled atmosphere storage on the post-storage production of volatile esters, important aroma-contributing compounds, by fruit of the late season cultivar ‘Tardibelle’. Results indicate that the supply of alcohol and acyl-CoA precursors was altered as a consequence of treatments considered, leading to significant changes in the emission of some volatile esters, particularly of the straight-chain type. Some enzyme activities involved in the production of volatile esters from fatty acids were partially inhibited in 1-MCP-treated fruit, suggesting that they are under ethylene regulation, although tissue-specific differences were also observed. Lipoxygenase and hydroperoxide lyase activities were particularly relevant for these modifications.